Through-Life Support Will Increase Local Content
Spain’s Navantia and Saudi Arabia’s Zamil Offshore Services Company have signed an MoU at the World Defense Show in Riyadh this week, boosting their cooperation by providing services for the Avante 2200 corvettes of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF).
Navantia is building five Avantes for the RSNF under a comprehensive contract which includes through-life support (TLS) for the vessels in Saudi Arabia, as well as training crew and maintainers. The first corvette will be commissioned on 31 March.
Zamil and Navantia will explore potential collaboration in the field of support services to the Avante 2200s. “Our cooperation with Zamil is a step further in our commitment to boost localisation in support to RSNF and to develop a solid industrial ecosystem in Saudi Arabia. Navantia is fully committed to deliver KSA Vision 2030,” stated Navantia’s VP for Systems and Services, Donato Martínez.
“With Navantia’s global expertise and world renowned knowledge and Zamil’s proven track record in shipbuilding and repair projects, we are confident that our collaboration will yield a reliable local capability to support the sustainment of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces fleet,” added Nasser F Alhazzani, Zamil’s COO.
The collaboration with Zamil complements other initiatives launched by Navantia to boost industrial cooperation in the Kingdom. Navantia created a joint venture with Saudi Arabia Military Industries (SAMI) to develop, integrate and market the first Saudi Combat System: HAZEM. The already fully operational company, called SAMI-Navantia, was awarded a significant contract in September 2019 for supply and integration of the combat system for the five Avante corvettes.
SAMI Navantia employs over 30 Saudis. Saudi engineers participating directly in the programme ave been deployed to Spain for its duration, and will become the backbone of support for the class in the Kingdom. The capability and skills developed in the Avante programme will also benefit future RSNF projects, as well as the international programmes in which both companies are already cooperating.
